Saturday, November 09, 2019

Row. The. Dang. Boat

I've been a fan of the University of Minnesota Gophers football program since the days of coach Smokey Joe Salem, who was at the helm starting in 1979. If you're at all familiar with the Gopher program, you know there has been very little to cheer about these past 40 years.

To say that their latest win was uncharted territory is an understatement.

Minnesota's Jordan Howden picked off Sean Clifford in the end zone with 1:01 left, the third interception thrown by Penn State's quarterback, and the 17th-ranked Gophers held on for a 31-26 victory Saturday afternoon over the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions for their first win over a top-five team in 20 years.

Tanner Morgan passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns to direct a dismantling of Penn State's staunch defense, as Minnesota (9-0, 6-0, No. 13 AP) not only remained undefeated but also stayed on track for its first trip to the Big Ten Championship Game.

The first sellout crowd for the Gophers at home in four years swarmed the field after the clock ran out, reveling in the biggest step forward yet under coach P.J. Fleck in his third season. The Gophers scrambled the College Football Playoff picture too, after Penn State (8-1, 5-1, No. 5 AP) emerged with a top-four spot in the first edition of the rankings.

With this win, the Gophs should vault into the top 10 for the first time since 1962. To put that in perspective for me, that was the year my old man graduated high school. Dang!

On a side note, the Gophers have not lost a single game since coach Fleck spoke at my home church earlier this year.







I'm just sayin'.........

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